Fiorentina vs Borussia M’gladbach preview

February 22, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Fiorentina made a giant step towards the next stage with a 1-0 triumph in the first leg, but this tie is far from over as Borussia M’gladbach have the quality to overturn the deficit.

Viola haven’t quite impressed on domestic stage as they currently occupy eighth position in the overall standings, sitting eight points behind European positions.

With a top 5 finish highly unlikely, Fiorentina had no choice but to shift their focus towards their Europa League campaign, and the new strategy appears to have produced good results.

After easing off through the group stage, Viola did well to defeat Borussia M’gladbach on the road, with red-hot Federico Bernardeschi scoring the winner from a free-kick.

It is the Italy international who has been the real leader this season, and with 13 goals already to his name, the talented forward is clearly enjoying his most successful campaign.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina have been made 2.50 (3/2) favourites to win the return leg, but they will have to take the game seriously if they want to make it to the last 16.

Head coach Paulo Sousa decided to rest some key men in weekend’s defeat to AC Milan, meaning that Borja Valero, Federico Bernardeschi and Milan Badelj will be recalled.

Probable starting line-up (3-4-2-1): Tatarusanu – Tomovic, Rodriguez, Astori – Tello, Badelj, Vecino, Olivera – Valero, Bernardeschi – Kalinic.

It is fair to say that this is turning into a season to forget for Borussia M’gladbach, who are on the verge of European elimination and largely struggling in the league.

Die Fohlen had had a shocking start to the new league campaign and they were in danger of getting relegated until recently.

A three-match winning run proved enough for Borussia to escape the danger zone, but the home defeat to RB Leipzig probably marked the end of their European hopes.

With 13 games to go, die Fohlen sit some eight points behind top 6 places and mid table finish is the best they can hope for.

This means they can now fully focus on the Fiorentina game, but securing progress to the next stage will be no easy task after the 1-0 loss in the first match.

Head coach Dieter Hecking has welcomed back star striker Raffael, who should be available for selection after recovering from a thigh injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Sommer – Jantschke, Christensen, Vestergaard, Wendt – Hahn, Kramer, Dahoud, Hazard – Raffael, Stindl.

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